Harry Potter and the Artificer Legacy Chapter 62 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Harry Potter and the Artificer Legacy! Well, things are going to shit. Can this be mitigated? Harry and Family are certainly going to try. Then again, the speed at which information travels in the modern age is absolutely ridiculous. There may be no going back from this.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 62 – Secret No More

“Did you feel that?” A man, Edwin Clarke, looked between his mate, Henry, and the floor of the pub that they were in.

“What?” Henry looked at Edwin like he was off.

“The floor is shaking.” Edwin tapped his foot on the wooden floor.

“Are you already pissed?” Henry chuckled at his long-time friend. “You’re not usually this much of a-” His words were cut off as a tremor did indeed shake the floor. All of the previous noise in the pub stopped as everyone looked around in confusion.

“See?” Edwin looked at Henry pointedly.

“Earthquake?” One patron wondered loudly.

“We don’t have earthquakes around here.” Another replied with a shake of his head.

The tremor returned, even stronger this time and a few of the glasses and bottles behind the bar rattled. The barman quickly put his hands on a few that looked like they might fall. The next tremor came, worse than before, shaking everything in the pub and making even some of the more sober patrons stagger.

“It’s like bloody footsteps!” Henry swore, grabbing onto the table to steady himself.

“You saying there’s a giant walkin’ around outside?!” Edwin snapped at Henry for the ridiculous suggestion.

Screams from outside the pub got all of the patrons’ attention, seeing some people running in the streets away from something.

“What in God’s name?” One of the patrons close to the windows looked out and dropped his drink in shock as he went silent from terror.

“ROOOOOAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!” A massive roar ripped through the town, and even inside everyone clapped their hands over their ears.

“What the fuck?” Edwin and Henry both cursed as they left their table and rushed over to the windows along with a few other patrons. What they saw outside could only be described as a demon.

“Lay waste to the pests, they who do not know their place.” Voldemort ordered the demon he’d conjured.

The Gleam Eyes’ throat swelled up to a grotesque degree before it threw its head forward and opened its jaws. From the maw of the demon a sickly purple light blasted forward. The first thing it impacted was the main street, where many vehicles were already driving towards in an attempt to flee from the sixty-meter tall demon bearing down on the town.

BOOM

The purple light exploded with more force than any Bombarda spell could ever hope to produce when wielded by a Wizard or Witch. The entire main street area was blown apart, but most of the debris turned to dust rather than scatter across the town. What remained was a blackened crater with some ominously glowing purple burn marks within.

The entire town, even past midnight, was now awake and in terror. Screams and yells were heard, people either hid within their homes, or tried to flee from the titanic monster walking through their town. Each of its cloven-hoofed steps shaking the ground and causing destruction around it.

Calls were quickly being made to local law enforcement, some of the townsfolk skipping the emergency number entirely and calling higher authorities if they knew the proper numbers. In various parts of England, phones began to ring loudly in offices and buildings that had before been having a typical quiet night.

“Again.” Voldemort’s sick amusement at seeing the Muggles fleeing in terror was plain on his face.

Once more the Gleam Eyes’ throat bulged in a disgusting manner before another blast of the eerie purple light was expelled from its jaws. Another section of the town, this time houses, vanished into the light, followed by the immense explosion.

BOOM

The Gleam Eyes continued to walk the path that its Master had set for it, crushing the mortals underfoot, along with their buildings and dwellings. A straight line it would travel, eliminating everything in its path as it moved forward. The behest of its master the only thing making it attack with its immense Magical power.

‘A line of death to the Muggles, the first of many to perish under my reign.’ Voldemort mused darkly, seeing the destruction his demon caused merely by walking. ‘We’ll destroy every hamlet, village, town, and city on the path towards London.’ His red eyes gazed forward with a malevolent glow. ‘And when we get to London…there are nearly seven million that live there.’ The city also included targets like the Ministry of Magic and Diagon Alley as well. The world would know of his power and they would bow down!

-London-

“It’s like every phone is ringing at the same bloody time!” An office worker cried out, trying to keep up with all the calls coming in.

“Ma’am, what do you mean a giant monster?”

“Sir! You have to stop screaming, I can’t understand you!”

“Can you explain the situation more clearly? This is not a line to call for local emergencies.”

“What on Earth is going on?” The Director of the office questioned, having been called to come to work in the middle of night.

“Calls from Wiltshire, sir.” One of his oldest workers informed him from his desk after putting down the phone. “Hundreds of them, all of them claiming some giant monster is destroying their town.”

“Is there a massive gas leak or something?” The Director looked absolutely flummoxed by the situation. Surely this mass hysteria had to be some type pf hallucination?

“Turn on the telly!” One worker ran into the main area and had the television turned on in short order. The news station was already running a ‘Breaking News’ alert.

“This footage is coming to us live from our news helicopter over Wiltshire. While what you’re about to see may seem like a movie, we assure you that this is very much real. Parents are advised to prevent their children from viewing this graphic content.” The newscaster spoke before the screen was taken up with the video of a sixty-meter, goat-headed monster walking through a town.

“Bloody hell…” The Director just stared at the screen, even as phones continued to ring off the hook all around him. Many of his subordinates did as well. None of them could comprehend what they were seeing as the monster on screen launched a sickly purple light from its jaws that exploded when it hit the ground, taking everything with it in a flash.

This news was rapidly spreading throughout England, and soon the rest of the United Kingdom. Foreign Correspondents in London were also quick to pick up the story and send the recorded video back to their home countries where it would be aired in only a matter of hours at the latest. The news spread across Europe like wildfire, and even across the Atlantic in short order to both North and South America.

-Wood End Cottage-

“My head…” Sirius groaned, even as Marlie gently waved her wand over him and slowly soothed the pain. “I don’t understand the spell he used.”

“It blew up the wand he cast it with…or he cast it and used the wand as a catalyst?” Tonks was also groaning, her body felt off after having the strange Magic used on her.

None of the Order of the Phoenix was doing much better, all of them only briefly meeting at Grimmauld Place before having to seek treatment for the pain and ‘off’ feeling in their bodies. Whatever Magic that Voldemort had used to scatter them across England and Wales randomly had messed with them all.

“What matters is that you’re safe.” Marlie commented, gently leaning against Sirius and kissing his cheek.

“Agreed.” Fleur and Penny both nodded, fretting over Tonks’s condition along with Harry.

“That ritual site meant so much to him that he’d sacrifice his wand just to remove you all.” Harry didn’t like that thought in the slightest. “I can’t help but feel he’s about to do something absolutely insane.”

None of them knew how right he was.

-Prime Minister’s Office-

“You get the other Minister here right bloody now!” John Major roared at the Magical Painting, repeatedly slamming the bottom of the frame against the wall and shaking up the person inside.

“Alright, alright!” The portrait declared, leaving the frame to try and get Cornelius Fudge.

“How could this be happening?” John ran his hand through his hair. Nothing like this had ever happened to his knowledge, though that may not be a surprise if what he suspected about the Wizards was true. They’d been separate for centuries now…why was this attack happening?!

Her Majesty was being informed already and he’d normally want to bring the news himself, but he was still trying to understand the full scope of this situation. They needed more information, and he’d need to have a press release ready soon. The news was already covering this…monster attack…and even in London there were bouts of panic springing up as well.

“As if I didn’t have enough to deal with already.” John heaved a heavy sigh. He’d been doing his best and trying to guide the Untied Kingdom during his tenure as Prime Minister. With the internal divisions about the UK’s membership in the European Union, he was already close to resigning. Now a Magical attack like this? He knew his time as Prime Minister was definitely coming to an end, as if the recent elections hadn’t already made that fairly clear.

-Cornelius Fudge’s Home-

“MINISTER!!! MINISTER!!!” The portrait wailed loudly from Fudge’s study, startling the politician awake, even in his bedroom down the hall.

A few moments later a grumbling Fudge entered the room, still bleary-eyed and wearing a housecoat. “What?! What is it?! Why are you screaming in the middle of the night?!”

“The Muggle Minister is demanding to see you, sir!” The portrait informed Fudge urgently. “There’s an ongoing Magical attack on several Muggle towns and the Statute of Secrecy has been broken, sir!”

“WHAT?!” Fudge nearly collapsed, only his hands grabbing onto his desk prevented him from falling. “Who?! How?! When?!” He stumbled around his desk towards the portrait.

“I don’t know, sir.” The portrait shook its head. “You need to meet with the Muggle Minister, he knows the situation!”

“No…no, no, no…” Fudge whimpered, even as he quickly rushed to his bedroom to change into appropriate robes as fast as he could.

-Voldemort-

“They certainly seem to be enjoying flying around.” Voldemort sneered at the Muggle helicopters. He knew enough about the Muggle World, having been sent back to it throughout his childhood by Dumbledore. The names of various vehicles and their purposes were known to him. The only reason he hadn’t blasted them from the sky was because he was aware that they were filming his march of destruction. The Statute of Secrecy had forced the Magical to hide from the Muggle. An absolute disgrace in his eyes. One that he would correct here and now.

It wasn’t much longer that Voldemort noticed the helicopters moving away quickly. Somewhat confused by their actions after they’d flown around his demon for so long already, he wasn’t expecting a Muggle counterattack of any magnitude so soon.

Explosions rocked the air as multiple missiles detonated against a sickly purple barrier around the massive demon. Bullets peppered the Magical barrier as well to no avail. Voldemort heard the sound of planes as they flew by at speed. Looking down, the Dark Lord noticed what he believed to be military vehicles driving around the area, constantly taking shots at his demon. Soldiers, war machines, none of it mattered to Voldemort, nor his demon.

“Protection from projectiles is the most basic of basics.” Voldemort nearly laughed mockingly at their efforts. Even bombs and missiles wouldn’t do much for the Muggles. Anything that was a projectile wouldn’t get past the Gleam Eyes’ barrier. Not even spells could pass through, unless they could overpower the demon’s ridiculous amount of Magic. “Play with them a bit.” He could allow a small slowdown in his march to enjoy the Muggles’ futile resistance.

“ROOOOOAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!” The Gleam Eyes roared, shaking the air itself. It’s hissing serpent tail lashed out, knocking the military trucks aside. Any soldier unfortunate enough to get in the path of the snake tail was thrown far and died.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

More missiles exploded against the sickly purple barrier to no effect. The ethereal glow of the demons blue eyes followed the planes as they flew. With a howl, the goat-headed monster threw its head forward and unleashed the same eerie purple light as before. The pilots proved the speed of their craft and their own skills as they easily outmaneuvered the attack.

A strange hissing sound came from the Gleam Eyes’ jaws. This time when it opened its maw, streaks of the same purple light emerged and filled the air. The missiles that had been fired at the demon exploded long before reaching its barrier. The streams of light chased after the planes as well, forcing the pilots to dodge the barrage that seemingly gave the middle finger to physics! The streaks of light died down after a few moments, just in time for the pilots to receive orders to pull back along with the rest of the soldiers.

“Now, now, we can’t have that.” Voldemort’s sick hiss was followed with a mental order to the Gleam Eyes.

“ROOOOOAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!” The Gleam Eyes roared before an immense wave of blue flames left it jaws and the mouth of its serpent tail. The blue fire washed over the area faster than it should’ve been capable of. Trucks, soldiers, civilians, homes, businesses, and everything else was engulfed and burned to ashes. All the while, the airborne could only look down and see the towering monster standing in an absolutely massive circle of black ashes and blue fire.

-Hogwarts ~ Dumbledore’s Office-

“Albus!” Minerva entered his office before he could bid her entry. McGonagall looked frantic and disheveled, a far cry from her normally prim and stern appearance. “You must head to the Ministry!”

“I was about to leave, Minerva.” Dumbledore mentioned, his Floo already crackling with green flames. “I have heard of what is going on to some degree.” The Headmaster truly looked his age now. His normal twinkle had vanished from his eyes, and his energy seemed to have left him. “I fear that what Voldemort has done cannot be undone.”

“What do we tell the students, Albus?” McGonagall asked, indecision and worry in her eyes and as plain as day on her face.

“For now, cancel classes and tell the students only that the Statute of Secrecy has suffered a massive breach.” Dumbledore didn’t want to cause panic and fear among the students. “Inform the students that more information will be given to them as soon as you have it. If it will help keep order in the school, you may tell them that I have left to try and handle the situation as well.”

“Yes, Albus, I’m sure that will be a relief to many, both students and faculty alike.” McGonagall looked as if a small about of tension had left her shoulders at his words.

“I will return as soon as I am able, Minerva.” Dumbledore nodded to his Deputy Headmistress before entering the green flames and vanishing a second later.

-Paris, France-

“What is going on?” Nicholas Flamel watched the television in the window of a Muggle shop with confusion and great concern. What was clearly some type of demon was destroying a path across England at the moment, and apparently had been for a few hours now. A few towns had already been devastated by the demon with nothing the Muggle military did being able to stop the monster. Judging by its current path, the demon could be heading towards London. It was barely sunrise in Paris and yet Flamel could already tell that the city was beginning to buzz. ‘I need to get home to Perenelle.’ The ancient Alchemist turned away from the television and headed home quickly.

It was clear to Nicholas Flamel that things were about to get very complicated in the world between the Magical and the Non-Magical.

-Amsterdam ~ Netherlands-

A somewhat plain-looking man sat in his apartment watching the news from the UK. “Who thought this was a good idea?” The Wizard nearly spat at the screen. A massive demon attacking England could only be done with Magic, of course, but this situation was about to make everything worse. “Why the hell is this happening now?” He needed to contact as many of the groups involved with the plan as possible. Surely, there were others already doing so too, but it was better to make sure. “We’re not ready yet! There are still months of preparation left! This is probably that Dark Lord of theirs!” The Wizard ranted to himself loudly. Trust the Wizards and Witches of the United Kingdom to be content to sit on their hands when it came to dealing with their domestic threats until they became everyone’s problem! “It certainly wasn’t one of us…we don’t have anyone in the UK. None of them saw the problems building up, or if they did, they certainly didn’t care!”

With his initial ranting done, the man quickly went into the other room and sat before a small mirror. He hit four spots on the frame around the reflective glass in a certain sequence and then watched as his reflection disappeared. A moment later and the face of a woman appeared.

She was rather pretty, a soft face with dark eyes that held a depth of wisdom in them that most couldn’t match. “Yes, Finn?”

“Have you seen the news from the UK?” Finn asked the woman first and foremost.

“I have only just been made aware of it. Do you have any information?” The woman asked him.

“Only that there was no one of our agreement in the UK to cause such a thing.” Finn shook his head. “I believe it to be the work of that Dark Lord of theirs, Voldemort, or whatever.”

“I see.” The woman looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’ll share this with some of the others higher up the Accord. We can’t do much to move up the timetable, and several groups still aren’t ready.”

“This is almost the worst time that such a thing could’ve happened.” Finn commented with a grimace.

“We may be able to use this as a mere stepping stone.” The woman mused, her eyes looking at nothing in particular. “We were planning to abolish the Statute anyway, so that it’s happening now might save us some trouble.”

“Won’t this attack make things even more complicated than everything is already going to be?” Finn didn’t think this was in anyway a useful event.

“It will certainly cause a lot of friction between the Non-Magical and the Magical.” The woman sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. “But it also gives the Non-Magical a good amount of time to get used to the idea of Magic being real. That is going to be one of the biggest hurdles to the plan after all.”

“And if this doesn’t stop soon?” Finn questioned the woman.

“A few of the more ‘capable’ members will deal with it.” The woman spoke, her tone flat and devoid of any warmth.

-Ministry of Magic ~ Obliviators’ Offices-

“How are we supposed to contain this?!”

“We can’t! The Muggles already have it on their news across the country!”

“The ICW is going to be breathing down our necks!”

“Then they should get over here and help us!”

To say the Department was in shambles would be a bit of an understatement. None of the Obliviators knew what to do about this situation. Nothing in their training had EVER prepared them for such an egregious breach of the Statute of Secrecy! They only had about one-hundred members total, and that was counting the people that usually did the desk work for the Department. They couldn’t stop this!

“More mail!” A porter called out, bringing in another stack of letters from concerned Wizards and Witches who were waking up to here of this commotion on the Wizarding Wireless.

The Ministry couldn’t control the Wireless as much as they controlled the Prophet. Especially not when the Wireless could report without having to print anything like the newspaper. They were simply too fast, and Minister Fudge was apparently still in a meeting with the Muggle Prime Minister, so no one had even given the order to silence either of the main news outlets.

“ICW has sent a letter to Fudge as well.” The porter mentioned, relieving some stress from the panicked Obliviators that they weren’t going to be blamed directly at least. That didn’t mean anything good was going to come of this though. Until Fudge got in contact with the ICW, they had to let Dumbledore, in his position as Supreme Mugwump, talk to the Confederation.

“What are the Aurors doing?!” One of the Obliviators questioned the porter that had been rushing up and down the various levels of the Ministry since this madness began.

“They’ve already dispatched, but they can barely slow the thing down, apparently.” The porter gave what little information he had to the Obliviators.

-Auror Corps ~ Wiltshire-

“A wall won’t stop this thing.” Amelia Bones told her Aurors loudly. “We’re going to transfigure the ground and make as many obstacles as possible to slow it down! Swamps, pits, trenches, all as deep as possible! At least ten meters deep and wide on each one!”

“Yes, ma’am!” The Aurors called back. Every single one of them had their wands in hand, most of them stared at the distant figure of the demon as it walked in their direction. All of them knew they wouldn’t be able to so much as touch it with their spells, so Amelia had done the next best thing, work on containing the monster.

“Get to it! We need to cover as wide an area as possible or it’ll just walk around!” Amelia ordered and the Aurors all spread out quickly, looking to make the ground completely impassible, if possible.

-Wood End Cottage-

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Harry had just heard the news on the Wizarding Wireless. “He summoned a demon?!” Just from what news the Wireless had, it already sounded beyond bad. The Statute of Secrecy was in tatters by now. The Non-Magical news outlets would have video evidence of this spread across the globe by now, or in the next few hours at least.

“Destroying towns?! What does that even gain Voldemort?!” Penny was horrified by what they’d just heard.

“Attention.” Fleur nearly spat. “He wants everyone to see him and his abomination. He wants them to fear and despair, to give up without trying to fight him.”

“Fear tactics.” Harry nodded as he clenched his fists. The Wireless wasn’t going into too much detail about the Non-Magical towns that had been destroyed, but Harry was fairly certain that thousands, if not tens of thousands had already died.

“I need to get out there.” Tonks muttered from the doorway to the kitchen. She was still a bit out of it, but the worst had passed. “Madam Bones has called in every Auror, and that includes me.” The Metamorphmagus moved to head upstairs to get her Basilisk Vest, the Basilisk Scale Mail, the Shield Cloak, and the Sorcerer’s Path that she’d worn during the failed raid.

“Nym.” Harry had crossed the kitchen in record speed to grab her hand. “Don’t.” He looked into her eyes, desperate for her to listen to him.

“Harry, I have to, I became an Auror to protect people.” Tonks pulled him into a hug. She was soon joined by Penny and Fleur as both of them hugged her too.

“Then I’m going too.” Harry stated firmly, hie green eyes like hardened emeralds as he stared into Tonks’s eyes.

“You’re not an Auror.” Tonks denied, shaking her head.

“We’ll all go.” Penny spoke up, backing Harry’s choice.

“Absolutely!” Fleur clearly wasn’t going to be dissuaded, her face already set, and her blue eyes firm.

“We have a better chance together.” Harry took Tonks’s hands in his. “Plus,” He looked at Penny and Fleur as well. “I finished the scabbard.”

“Harry!” All three girls nearly shouted in unison.

“It’s our most powerful weapon!” Harry thundered back, a bit of Magic in his throat to amplify his voice. “We can contain it now, so if it needs to be used, we can do so for a short time. It could be the difference between life and death!”

“That sword is death, Harry!” Fleur looked him in the eye. Just being near Dourfrost made her skin crawl. “It’ll kill you just as much as Voldemort!”

“Harry, I get it, but if anything goes wrong, you’ll die.” Penny hugged him from behind.

“If we don’t use it, we’re all probably going to die regardless.” Harry stated flatly, no emotion in his voice. “Please…let me use what I’ve made to keep us alive. I don’t want this to be the end for us.” Harry met each of their eyes for a moment and all three of his loves saw the fear in Harry’s eyes.

“Sometimes, we forget that you aren’t as old as us, Harry.” Tonks pulled him into a hug. She squeezed him gently, pouring her love and affection for him into her embrace. “Are you sure the scabbard will work?”

“It’s my most powerful Artifact so far, it equals out with Dourfrost if the Arithmancy is correct, but it’s so highly fire-aligned that even if it was slightly weaker, it wouldn’t make a difference. The scabbard will overpower Dourfrost every single time.” Harry assured all three of them, confident in the power of the new Artifact that he’d made.

“Let’s get all of our gear first.” Fleur spoke, letting out a sigh at having to unseal the cursed sword.

“We should bring as many Mana Bane chains as we can.” Penny nodded firmly, her mind already working on ways to end this disaster as fast as possible. “We might be able to capture Voldemort and stop all of this.”

“I’ll get my Regalia ready.” Harry was quick to head up to his room. He’d put all of his Artifacts and Items to the test against Voldemort. ‘I want to end this, once and for all.’

-End Chapter-

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Well…fuck.

Voldemort is making a path of destruction with his demon across England.

The Statute of Secrecy is absolutely fucked.

The Aurors know they have no chance of taking the demon down.

Now, Harry and Family know they have only one way to even potentially end this disaster.

But can they really trust a cursed sword to stop the seemingly unstoppable?

Keep reading to find out!

Current Mana Levels

Harry – 30,010

Tonks – 24,632

Penelope – 18,584

Fleur – 19,116

Until I get your reviews, later!